Robert Wagner named person of interest in Natalie Wood's drowning death

In 1981, actress Natalie Wood drowned off the coast of Catalina Island in California.

Author:
Maeve McDermott, USATODAY

Published:
10:06 AM EST February 1, 2018

In 1981, actress Natalie Wood drowned off the coast of Catalina Island in California after she disappeared from her family's yacht, the Splendour. The star of A Miracle on 34th Street, Splendor in the Grass and West Side Story was 43.

Some 36 years after her unexplained death, Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators are re-opening the case, the department tells CBS' crime-documentary show, 48 Hours.

Wood disappeared the night of Nov. 29, after taking the yacht out with Wagner and her Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken. Boat captain Dennis Davern was also on board

Her death was ruled an accident in 1981, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reopened the case in 2011, ultimately changing the cause of death on her death certificate from an accidental drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors" in 2012.

"She looked like a victim of an assault," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Detective Ralph Hernandez tells CBS per 48 Hours. "We have not been able to prove this was a homicide. And we haven't been able to prove that this was an accident, either. The ultimate problem is we don't know how she ended up in the water."